Boys' lacrosse continues growing

GOSHEN — Jake Cassel needed something to do in the spring when baseball just didn't cut it any more.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

GOSHEN — Jake Cassel needed something to do in the spring when baseball just didn't cut it any more.

"I got tired of baseball. It was boring," he said. "I needed a sport that was faster and had more contact. I'm a football guy and I just needed a sport with more contact."

Yet when Cassel, a freshman defender, picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time five years ago, he didn't figure to have a long career in the sport. Goshen Youth Lacrosse serves kids from kindergarten through eighth grade, but Goshen's schools did not field lacrosse at any level.

That changed this past fall, when the Goshen Lacrosse Booster Club raised enough money to fund both boys' and girls' varsity teams. In Goshen, lacrosse no longer ends when middle school does.

So for Goshen kids like Cassel, who found a natural fit in one of the fastest-growing sports in the Hudson Valley, the future is suddenly full of potential. On the eve of Goshen's first game last week, Cassel said he couldn't wait to take the field and make a little history.

"Butterflies. Butterflies to the extreme," he said.

Goshen coach Tom Stoddard knows exactly what most of his players have been going through in early season practices. A 2008 Valley Central grad, Stoddard didn't start playing lacrosse until he was a freshman in high school. That means there has been plenty of teaching opportunities for Stoddard as he tries to get his Goshen players ready for varsity competition.

"I caught myself before this past week having to teach a lot just about the game and the rules and situational stuff, such as man down, man up, end of games, how we're going to kill the clock and how we're going to get the ball back," he said. "But the learning curve, you know, the kids learn."

One player in particular who's catching on quick is junior defensive midfielder Jason Eisenbacher, who has played football and baseball in the past but is giving lacrosse a shot for the first time this spring. He's been able to take some things from playing linebacker, looking at an offensive player's hips, and translating that to lacrosse.

"He came out in November and we were doing drills and playing up at the Milton Dome and he's improved tremendously," Stoddard said of Eisenbacher. "His stick skills have improved. When you're so raw, but you're an athlete, you're going to improve so much more."

Like Goshen's young players, Section 9 lacrosse has come a long way in a short time. Section 9 has had varsity lacrosse for just 14 seasons and area teams have struggled in the state tournament, playing against dominant competition from Long Island, Westcheser County and the Rochester and Syracuse suburbs.

Stoddard, who knows the sting of a state playoff blowout firsthand, has also seen Valley Central's and Goshen's youth programs make huge strides as well.

Cornwall and Rondout Valley, which both had club teams before joining the varsity ranks, have been competitive in Section 9 from Day 1. Cornwall won a Section 9 Class B title in its first varsity season in 2013. Rondout Valley has played in the Section 9 Class C championship game in each of its two years since moving up from club.

Stoddard isn't making any predictions for his team just yet — the team lost its first game on Friday, falling to Nanuet, 9-2 — but he does believe all of this growth bodes well for Section 9 lacrosse in the years to come.

"These kids, a lot of them have been playing since they were 8 years old," Stoddard said of his team. "We're getting up there. Hopefully the youth programs carry it. We're getting a lot of teams like Cornwall, Highland and Rondout and they have youth programs and it's just a feeder to the varsity. That's going to help us compete."

This Goshen team will be quite young. The Gladiators had 13 freshmen and just three healthy seniors on the opening-day roster. It's a mix of kids who came up through Goshen Youth Lacrosse, others who have shifted from different spring sports and also some football players just looking to have fun and stay in shape.

"There's always stuff to work on, but I think we're going to be ready for the season once it comes," said junior defender Brendan Boles, who got his start in the youth program. "I think we want to make sections and try our best and see what happens."

Stoddard, who is assisted by his former Valley Central teammate, Corey Johnson, is taking the long view when it comes to making goals for the season.

"All our Class B opponents, we have to win those games," Stoddard said. "We have some tough games in Class B. We've scrimmaged them and we've played them at Milton all winter. We know the matchups and we know what we have from that, we just have to be ready. We have a young team. I tell the kids every day, 'We're building a foundation.' I'm not worried about wins. We're building a foundation."

His players are already on board with that idea.

"We get to have the achievement of knowing that you're the first kids on the first team in Goshen," Eisenbacher said. "There's a kind of pride and honor in it being like that."

4:30 p.m. April 8: Wallkill hosts Highland in a key early season matchup between the Division III rivals.

4 p.m. April 10: It’ll be a rematch of last year’s Section 9 Class A championship game when Minisink Valley travels to Warwick.

7 p.m. April 22: One of Section 9’s longest lacrosse rivalries is renewed under the lights when Pine Bush faces Kingston at Dietz Stadium.

3:30 p.m. May 3: Summit (N.J.), one of the premier high school programs in the Garden State, makes a pit stop in Orange County to take on the two-time defending Section 9 Class A champions from Minisink Valley in Slate Hill.

1 p.m. May 10: Delaware Valley (Pa.) is still filling its schedule with non-league games against Section 9 teams. The Warriors host Kingston in this late-season tuneup.

4, 6, and 8 p.m. May 23: Three Section 9 championship games at Middletown’s Faller Field.

June 7: State finals at Hofstra University.

Aaron Ackerman, Warwick, Jr., attack: Ackerman scored 39 goals as a sophomore and is back to lead a Warwick team that’s looking for its first Section 9 title since 2010.

Deron Dixon, New Paltz, Sr., defense: Dixon’s lacrosse career doesn’t end at the conclusion of the season. Next spring, he’ll be part of the first lacrosse team at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa.

Tristan Earle, Delaware Valley (Pa.), Sr., attack: Earle had 45 goals and 40 assists as a junior, leading Delaware Valley to a win in the opening round of the PIAA tournament, the first in program history. He’ll be a major part of the Warriors’ offense in 2014, as well.

Josh Hernandez, Middletown, Sr., long stick midfielder: Hernandez was a magnet for ground balls last year and also excelled at faceoffs for the Middies, who are looking to win a Section 9 postseason game for the first time in program history.

Brian Loughlin, Kingston, Sr., attack: One of Section 9’s most gifted offensive players, Loughlin, a left-handed shot, had 53 goals and 44 assists as a junior. He’s on track to break Kingston’s career scoring record early this season.

Eric Morse, Rondout Valley, Sr., goalie: Morse was aided by a tremendous defense in front of him last year, but he still saved 122 of the 158 shots he faced. Look for Morse to be the focal point of another strong Ganders’ defense in 2014.

Joe Sessa, Minisink Valley, Jr., attack: Sessa has had two remarkable years for the Minisink Valley varsity already. He holds the school record with 146 career assists and has added 91 goals. Sessa has already committed to Yale University.

Cornwall: The Green Dragons were awfully impressive as a first-year varsity program in 2013, capturing a Section 9 Class B title. Highland, Wallkill and perhaps even Goshen may challenge Cornwall in its quest for another this spring.

Highland: The Huskies emerged last season as a contender among the small schools in Section 9. Look for junior goalkeeper Domenic Bellacicco (62 percent save percentage in 2013) and sophomore midfielder Chris Schlappich (30 goals, 36 assists as a freshman) to lead Highland this season.

Minisink Valley: The Warriors have won two straight Section 9 Class A titles, but this will be a new-look team. Minisink Valley lost 13 seniors to graduation, including nine on the defensive side of the field. Junior attack Joe Sessa will engineer an offense that shouldn’t have any trouble scoring goals, but Minisink Valley will have its work cut out defensively early on.

Rondout Valley: The Ganders, like Cornwall, have made the transition to varsity play look easy. Rondout Valley, however, has lost to Red Hook in the Section 9 Class C championship game two years in a row. Will a third time be the charm?

Valley Central: The Vikings have plenty of experience, with juniors Brad Howell and Hunter Cocks leading the way. Valley Central did lose goalie Carlos Villaman to graduation, but should be in the mix by the time the Section 9 Class A tournament rolls around.

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